Virender Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar lash out following David Warner’s intent-less innings against Rajasthan Royals

After suffering their third straight loss in the IPL 2023 on Saturday, the Delhi Capitals (DC) remained at the bottom of the standings. DC struggled to reach 142 runs in response to a mammoth target of 200 set by Rajasthan Royals (RR) upon a batting-friendly Guwahati ground, ultimately losing by a worrying 57 runs, which also had an impact on their net run rate. And after DC captain David Warner’s slow 65 off 55, batting ace Virender Sehwag, as well as former India player Rohan Gavaskar, attacked him for the defeat.

Trent Boult gave Delhi a terrible start by dismissing Prithvi Shaw with Manish Pandey in quick succession in the first over. Rilee Rossouw also failed to support Warner in any way as he left before the powerplay was over. The DC captain then teamed up with Lalit Yadav to put up a 64-run stand, but while the two of them appeared to be playing more aggressively, Warner, who was by this point quite comfortable, failed to shift gears as the pressure upon the visitors increased because of the asking rate. Warner eventually achieved his record of 6000 runs and finished his fifty, but the bottom order crumbled under strain as RR limited DC to a lowly 142 for nine.

Virender Sehwag was annoyed by the kind of knock played by David Warner and spoke to Cricbuzz about this knock. He said, “I feel it is time that we tell him in English now so that Warner listens to it and feels hurt. David, if you are listening, please play well. Score 50 in 25 balls. Learn from Jaiswal, he hit in just 25 balls. If you cannot do that, do not come and play in the IPL.”

The former Indian Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also spoke about the knock and showed his frustration regarding such a knock. He said, “If you are dismissed for 8 off 8, one can say okay he couldn’t find that rhythm. But you are the captain here, you have that experience. They showed that he was the fastest to 6000 IPL runs so you can never imagine him playing these knocks. David Warner would have been retired hurt by Delhi Capitals if he was not their captain. If this was a young Indian player, his tournament would have been over. It would have been his last match. Warner has to take responsibility for this loss.”